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'I ran over and there was a lady helping him. I was asking if an ambulance had been called.

'She said she had been told to wait for a first aider before an ambulance could be called. She was livid.

'I didn't have my phone with me. I was in a complete flap.'

The checkout assistant at the store at Orbital Shopping Park in Swindon, Wiltshire, said a member of staff had gone to find a trained first-aider to make the call. Above, a stock image of an Asda store

Ms Lewington said staff continued to serve customers at the surrounding checkouts.

The recruitment worker said: 'At the time I felt vulnerable and scared. I needed someone I could put my confidence in until the ambulance came.

'It's important the public know it's not automatic if you're expecting help.

'Things aren't in place for people to be looked after. I assumed they'd have something in place - they haven't.'

Mr Allen, pictured with his fiancée, spent five hours being checked over in hospital and is still undergoing scans to determine why he blacked out

She added that after the incident she was left feeling angry, disappointed and frustrated.

She said: 'I went to see the manager the next day and went through the whole situation with him. He kept saying: "I'm really sorry".

'I want to make sure no one should go through this again. No one took control of the situation when I needed them to.

'I want to thank the general public. If it hadn't been for them I don't know what would have happened. They were amazing.'

Mr Allen, a quality controller for a car parts firm, spent five hours being checked over in hospital and is still undergoing scans to determine why he blacked out.

Asda said it was not standard policy for staff to leave 999 calls to first-aiders.

A spokesman said: 'When an incident occurs in store we always seek to provide first aid and call for support from the emergency services as quickly as possible.

'We're sorry if Ms Lewington and her fiancé were unhappy with the service they received on this occasion and would like to apologise for any upset caused and wish Mr Allen a speedy recovery.

'We would like to reassure them that customer safety and well-being is incredibly important to us and look forward to welcoming them in store again soon.'